MELAKA: On the pretext of delivering aid to flood victims, a syndicate was supplying banned firecrackers to ready buyers over the past two months.
The group finally met its waterloo following the arrest of eight people, including a Thai woman in four separate raids around Alor Gajah and Melaka Tengah, on Monday and Tuesday. The police team also seized firecrackers worth RM510,000 in the raids.
Melaka police chief Datuk Abdul Majid Mohd Ali said the suspects pasted flood relief mission posters on the lorries when sending the firecrackers to customers, besides also showing the employer’s letter at roadblocks, especially at state borders, following the enforcement of the current Movement Control Order (MCO).
He said police detained five men, aged 25 to 29 years old, on Monday in raids between 2.30 pm and 7.30 pm around Batu Berendam and Ayer Keroh.
“Following their arrest, the next day police raided a premises in Jalan Tampin-Alor Gajah believed to have been used to store an assortment of firecrackers all worth RM510,000, some of the prohibited items were also found hidden in rice sacks on a lorry.
“Police also detained two men, aged 34 and 39 years old, and a 29-year-old Thai woman, wife of one of the suspects, in the raid,’’ he told a press conference at the Melaka Police Contingent Headquarters here, today.
Commenting further, Abdul Majid said preliminary investigations found that the group had been active for the past two months bringing supplies from neighbouring states for the local market in conjunction with the Chinese New Year celebration.
‘’They also promoted the sale of firecrackers via WhatsApp to customers at random by listing the types of firecrackers via a catalogue,’’ he said.
All the suspects were remanded for four days from yesterday (Feb 3) to Saturday (Feb 6) under Section 8 of the Explosives Act 1957 which carries a seven-year jail and RM10,000 fine or both, upon conviction.
In another development, Abdul Majid said police were hunting two men, aged 21 and 27 years old, who were believed to have broken into a factory at the Cheng Technology Park at about 4 am on Jan 19.
“Raw materials used to produce plastics at the factory were missing and the loss was estimated to be RM60,000.
“Hence, we urge anyone with information on the two suspects to contact investigation officer, Sergeant Mohd Hanafi Md Zam at 019-3546812,” he said. — Bernama
